View full sizeJesse Martinez, owner of San Blas, a bakery and grocery store in Foley, says his business has sharply declined since the passage of Alabama's immigration law. (Kate Mercer/Press-Register)

Since 2006, the 61-year-old Pineda-Rios has owned the Foley La Michaoacana market, which caters to Hispanic customers.

Along with the bus tickets, he sells myriad items such as phone cards, soccer shirts, CDs, dolls, snacks, dresses, tortillas and sodas.

Alabama’s strict immigration law, much of which was upheld in a Wednesday ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn, has driven away as much as 50 percent of his business.

For years Pineda-Rios, a Mexican immigrant himself, had worked odd jobs for little pay — in a field for $15 a day, in a market for $7 an hour — until he had saved enough to start his own business, he said Saturday through interpretation from his 13-year-old son, Jose Carlos Pineda.

In a small strip mall just off Ala. 59, he owns the market, a butcher shop and a restaurant.

"That was his dream of all his life," Jose said. "From night to the morning, his dream went away."

Now, the family’s future is uncertain.

"If the law keeps going," the son said, "he might have to close. And if the business closes, he has to leave." 

Afraid to leave home 

Pineda-Rios’s brother, 52-year-old Clemente Pineda-Rios, who owns a La Michaoacana in Robertsdale, estimates his customer base has dropped by as much as 75 percent.

Standing with his daughter, Jessica Pineda, 18, behind the counter of the store, which also holds a butcher shop and a restaurant, he rubbed his forehead under his baseball cap in frustration. In the past, he saw at least 100 customers a day. These days, he might get 20 to 25.

Many of his daughter’s closest friends have left the state, and she now rarely leaves home, except to go to work. She stays in Alabama because it’s where her family stays.

"I was born in the United States," she said. "I know I have my American rights. But if I go outside people are going to think I’m illegal. I get scared because we have the color."

Baldwin County has one of the fastest-growing Hispanic populations in the state, with 224 percent more recorded in 2010 — 7,992 — than the 2,466 in 2000, according to the latest Census figures.

The Foley area’s population grew from about 3 percent Hispanic to nearly 8 percent during that same time.

By comparison, Mobile County’s Hispanic population grew by about 125 percent during that decade. 

Business plummets 

For seven years, Jesse Martinez, a 30-year-old Texas native, has owned the Panaderia y Abarrotes (Bakery and Grocery), known by regulars as San Blas, in Foley.

He’s building a home in town for his wife, two sons, ages 8 and 14, and 19-year-old stepdaughter.

In the past, they would make up to 1,000 baked goods a day, including their specialty Tres Leches (three milk) cake, a traditional dessert popular for birthdays, baptisms and weddings.

But in recent months, he said his business is down by as much as 90 percent.

Two of the four cupboards were completely empty Saturday, with a pile of bananas at front of the store turning black.

Martinez is unsure what he might do if he has to close his business.

"Whatever doesn’t go to waste, we’ll take to the flea market," he said. 

Looking for help from the federal government 

Lunchtime is typically busy at nearby Margarita’s, owned by Robert Iniguez and his wife, Margarita, the restaurant’s namesake.

They serve authentic Mexican cuisine, which their daughter Elizabeth Iniguez, says is hard to find elsewhere in southwest Alabama.

But at noon Saturday, only one table was occupied.

Most of the regulars who have left were friends, she said.

While the family hasn’t noticed an increase in police activity since Gov. Robert Bentley signed the immigration law in June, Elizabeth Iniguez said they might have to leave the state as well.

They have thought about opening a market in Mississippi.

Margarita Iniguez, who speaks little English, asked through her daughter whether the federal government would help businesses like hers.

"It’s really hard for our family now," Elizabeth Inguez said.

The U.S. Department of Justice has appealed Blackburn’s ruling, saying Alabama’s law is too far-reaching and encroaches on federal authority over immigration.

"We’re just waiting on Obama," Jessica Pineda said, "to see what he can do." 